Angel of Death
by jstarrh
Summary: Edward is on death row and Bella is the reporter sent to interview him during his final days. AU/Human
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hello all here is something new that I needed to write. It has been stuck in my head for quite a while and until I got it out I wasn't able to write anything else. So here is the prologue and I will be updating once a week from here on it since it is already completed. It is different than what you might be used to from me so please keep that in mind.**

**This story would not be possible without the support of Tiggrmommi, Pomme_de_terre, Emibella, Ginny, and VJGM! Thank you so much for listening to me as I was writing and giving me invaluable input.**

**So here we go….this takes place a few years before Bella and Edward meet.**

**I do not own.**

_**Prologue**_

_He sat in the bar savoring his freedom. He lifted his glass and watched as the amber liquid swirled around in the glass, ice cubes clinking together. This was his celebration; no one else came to join him as no one else was excited that he was actually free. Even his family was disgusted by him. It didn't matter to him though, he was free. Finally justice had been served and he sat here in a bar with the ability to do whatever he wanted. No one watching his every move, no one was waiting for him to do something wrong. He chose to disregard the fact that justice came in the form of a technicality that had set him free. That was neither here nor there to him. The fact of the matter was that he was free and now he pondered what to do with his time. _

_Everyone around him recognized him and kept their distance. He liked it better that way. He was never one for small talk. All conversation that he had ever made had centered on getting him what he wanted. So he sat and drank alone until she walked into the bar. He noticed her instantly and his eyes tracked her as she crossed the bar and sat down next to him. The other patrons instantly looked the other way. They weren't responsible for the decisions that she made with her life. _

_Instantly he felt the old rush of longing. It had been so long and he could hear her calling to him. He was powerless to stop the need once it surfaced, he never had been. It had been difficult in prison to have no outlet for his desires but here and now he didn't have to worry about it anymore. He didn't worry that he might go back, that he would be a suspect instantly, all that mattered was her. He placed a smile on his face and became charming and lively. Looking at him you would never suspect the depths of evil that he was capable of. No one had for quite a long time. That was why his list of victims was so long._

_As the minutes passed he had her right where he wanted her. Her hand continually sought contact with his and when he suggested that they find somewhere quieter to continue their discussion she didn't hesitate to grab her jacket. He left money on the bar and ushered her out the door. He was so focused on her that he didn't notice the man getting up after them and following them into the alley. _

_She leaned against him, her warm breath tickling his neck as she whispered against it. He stopped at a wall, unwilling to wait any longer and pressed her back against it. Normally he would draw this moment out, savor every reaction but it had been so long that he decided he would savor the next time. He needed immediate gratification. As his hands reached for her long delicate neck he suddenly became aware that someone else was there with them. He waited for them to leave. No one had any business being in an alley this late at night unless they were up to no good. He should know._

_He heard no sounds but could still tell that someone was out there. Unable to wait any longer he ignored it and moved his hands to the velvet skin that covered her neck. As his fingers tightened he felt strong arms pulling him away._

"_RUN! NOW!" A powerful voice filled the alley and his prey took off running down the alley. _

_Anger filled him, how dare this person take what was his. It didn't matter what he had planned to do with her. That was no one else's business but his own. He turned around to confront this bold stranger when he was slammed against the wall._

"_You get a second chance and this is what you do with it," the voice was filled with anger. He looked up into green eyes filled with all consuming hatred. "You couldn't even wait a day until you started up again." _

_He prepared words to defend himself but he didn't need to answer to anyone. What he chose to do with his time was his own business. He lifted his fists, prepared to fight._

"_Let's see how you like it when someone hurts you."_

_He laughed in this strangers face. He had just been in prison for three years. He knew a thing or two about pain. He'd like to see this tall skinny person in front of him try to hurt him. _

_It all happened so quickly. There was the smallest flash of light as the blade caught the reflection of the street lights and then his hands were grasping for his throat, trying to staunch the pulse of blood that was flowing from him. It became harder and harder to catch his breath as his hands became slick with his own blood. _

_He fell to the ground, the pain slowly ebbing from his body as calm settled over him. The stranger sat and watched the entire time, his face impassive as he watched the life drain out of him. So this is what it was like, the helpless feeling of dying at someone else's hand. As his eyes closed he thought of all the deaths that he had been responsible for and couldn't bring himself to regret a single one._

**More coming soon. Thank you for reading!**

**Jaime**


	2. Monday

_A/N – Hello everyone, I'm back with the first day of the interview. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read this, it means a lot to me because I know this is a bit different than my usual story._

_A big thank you to VJGM, GinnyW, Pomme_de_Terre, Tiggrmommi, Who Knows and everyone who has supported this idea!_

_I do not own!_

**Monday - San Quentin Prison**

The sound of the heavy metal door closing behind me echoed in the small room. The only furniture in the room consisted of a table and two chairs. One of the chairs was already occupied and I tried to appear confident as I made my way to the other side of the table. The first thing I noticed was the oppressive heat. I wasn't sure if it was always so warm in here, it seemed inhumane. I suppose that given who I was about to talk to I shouldn't be concerned about whether or not he was adequately cooled down. I could feel a trickle of sweat make its way down my back as I pulled the chair away from the table and sat down.

He sat across from me, not acknowledging my presence at the table. I opened up the briefcase that I had set on the floor and removed a pad of paper and pen. I also placed my recorder on the table before I flipped to my list of questions so that I could begin.

I tried not to stare as I sat across from him. I had seen his image hundreds of times, in newspapers, on television, magazines, etc but nothing did justice to the actual man sitting here in front of me. His eyes were a piercing green that no film could capture and his hands were long and elegant. It was hard to imagine them causing harm to anyone. The facts didn't lie though and I wasn't here to write a human interest piece on the man. I was here to write the interview of a man about to die.

"Good afternoon Mr. Cullen." I waited for him to respond and got nothing. "Mr. Cullen." I tried again and waited a few more minutes. A war was raging within me. I couldn't decide what I should do, did I stay in the hopes that he might decide to talk or did I go and risk being seen as a quitter. I had been sent here to do a job and I intended to do it. "," I said again. My voice rose and he finally looked up and acknowledged me.

"What do you want?" he growled at me. "Here to ask me more questions? To figure out why I did what I did? To make sure that I confessed properly? The courts are done with me Mrs…"

"Ms. Swan, Bella Swan." I couldn't screw this up. This was my first big assignment and I had a lot riding on getting this conducted properly and I couldn't allow him to taunt me. If nothing else I was professional.

"Your lawyer agreed to this interview Mr. Cullen, if you want me to leave just say the word." I hoped that he wouldn't send me out the door, my boss would kill me but I had to show him that I wasn't a pushover. If I didn't stand my ground in the beginning I would allow him to walk all over me. I started to pack up my things all the while praying that he wouldn't send me away.

He said nothing as I put everything back in my briefcase slowly and deliberately. Just as the last item was placed inside and I was closing the latch he spoke.

"You can stay." He looked at the corner of the room and I hesitated before I sat down again. I was almost convinced that this entire assignment would be a waste of my time. There was no way he would answer any of my questions but I came here to do a job and one way or another I would be writing this article. Even if it was my observations of a man who wouldn't utter a single word as he awaited death.

I removed everything once again from my briefcase and looked down at the list of questions in front of me.

"Mr. Cullen I am here at the request of your lawyer. He wanted to give you the chance to tell your side of the story before Friday night." I trailed off there, not wanting to remind him of what was scheduled to happen on Friday night.

"Why? If I had wanted to tell my story I would have. I confessed, I got sentenced and here I am. I'm ready for Friday. I don't understand or appreciate the interest and I don't understand why everything must take so long." It was the most words that he had ever said to anyone since his confession. He had been separated from the general population at his own request and spent all his time alone in a cell.

"Why did you confess? The police weren't even close to catching you, why give yourself up?" I asked the one question I had always been dying to ask. I ignored the questions that were in front of me, the questions that my boss and I had spent hours preparing.

"Because I was becoming one of them, the very person I was trying to protect society from. I found myself looking forward to it, enjoying it and that was when it needed to end. It wasn't a job so much as a necessity." He looked up at me. His green eyes searching out mine and I didn't doubt the truth of what he said. He had killed 9 people, each one of them deserving in their own way but still he was no better than they were.

When the first murder took place it was news instantly. James Preston had just been released from prison that morning. He was a man free through a loop hole in the legal system. He had killed 5 women, had never expressed any regret and if he had remained free he would have continued his spree ruthlessly and without remorse. He was found the morning after his release dead in an alley behind a bar in Sacramento. It was automatically assumed that one of the families of the victims had sought retribution but each family when interviewed by police lead to a dead end. A few days later a woman came forward and admitted to having talked to him in the bar and going into the alley with him. He had had his fingers wrapped around her neck when someone came by and sent her away. She didn't see him. She took off immediately so the police had nothing to go on.

As the years went by more and more of these stories emerged, close calls ended by a mysterious man who was never seen. His victims were always the same, men who were free when they most likely shouldn't be, men who were continuing their ways despite being given a second chance. The press nicknamed him the Angel of Death and it was mixed as to whether people admired or despised him. The only ones who were truly outraged were the families of his victims. They didn't condone the behavior of their sons, fathers, brothers but they didn't want to see them murdered.

The police had no leads. They weren't about to protect every person who had gotten away with murder. The murders took place all over the state, at various times of day. The only connecting factor was the type of victim.

The press had a field day with the story. Every time a new man got released from prison the papers speculated if he would be the next victim, the next one to find justice by alternate means. There was almost a sense of disappointment when they were still alive and well weeks later. I began working at the paper right after the sixth murder had taken place and speculation was rampant. I read everything I could on the case and when he turned himself in I helped to cover the story and became obsessed with him. I read everything I could on the murders and on Edward Cullen and hoped that one day I might get a chance to interview him. He didn't have a trial though and refused all requests for interviews. That was why this opportunity was such a surprise. His lawyer called our office and requested to set up the interview with me personally. Edward didn't read any press coverage on himself but his lawyer was partial to the coverage that I had assisted with so far and apparently thought that I would do the best job of writing an impartial view of the last few days of his life. So here I was, sitting across from this man I had read about for years and I tried my best to appear professional and not look as intimidated as I felt.

I looked at the page in front of me even though I could have recited every word on the paper in my sleep but it helped to ground me.

"Where did you grow up?" This was all background that had been covered numerous times but I wanted to hear his answers and inflections to the questions.

"Surely you know all this. Is this what you came here for? To rehash every newspaper article that has ever been written about me. I should ask you these questions, see how prepared you are for coming here today. Where did I grow up?" He raised his eyebrows and watched me as I debated on how to react. If I answered his question I would lose all control and credibility. I was in charge of this interview, not him.

"I'm asking the questions here. If you aren't willing to answer then we are done here." I didn't pack up my briefcase; instead I looked him straight in the eye and waited for his response. This was my time to assert my strength. I felt as though he wouldn't respect me otherwise.

"Let's see, I was born Edward Anthony Masen on a blustery day in Chicago on June 20th, 1976. I had your normal everyday upbringing. I was happy and healthy. Only child until my parents died in a car crash when I was seven. I was adopted by my Aunt Esme and Uncle Carlisle, hence the last name Cullen. They had two children so it was an instant family for me and I had to get used to that dynamic. It was a hard adjustment for me in the beginning but they were some of my closest friends." He was looking off into the corner of the room, his eyes unfocused.

"Were?" That was the one aspect that there hadn't been a lot of information on. His basic background information was easily obtained but the current relationship with his family was something of an enigma. They had been in the courtroom every day sitting stoically behind Edward but had never granted an interview or even made a single comment on their daily trek to the courtroom.

"They didn't approve of my extra-curricular activities." He looked down at his hands, joined together by two bands of steel. "Really though, could you blame them?"

I decided to ignore that comment for now and changed the subject. "You went to college in England at Oxford. What brought on that decision?"

He didn't flinch at my change of subject. "My father spent his college career there and I wanted to do something that would honor my parents and make them proud."

"Would your current situation make them proud?" Once again the words were out before I could censor myself. There was something about him that made me act before I thought.

"I stopped worrying about making anyone proud a long time ago," his fingers clenched on the table. "My parents were killed by a drunk driver when I was seven years old. He went to prison for two years. Two years for taking the lives of two people who meant the world to me. Three days after he was released he killed an entire family after he spent an afternoon at the bar. The world is full of such stories. Time and time again innocent people die," he slammed his hand down on the table startling me.

"Is that why you did it, why you felt the need to stop these people?" My questions had gone out the window. If he was willing to talk I would follow his lead.

"There needed to be justice, an eye for an eye. I'm not saying that what I did was right but I do believe that what I did was necessary. They had to be stopped because they weren't going to stop themselves. Here they were with a second chance, a chance to redeem themselves and they squandered it." His eyes were burning with intensity and I was momentarily silenced.

"Was this something that you had planned in advance? Did you follow these people to watch them and make sure that they weren't harming anyone?" No one had ever figured out his methodology. Other than the obvious freed from prison no one was sure why he chose some over others.

"It was a matter of being in the right time at the right place. I travel a lot for work and I happened to time some of my trips accordingly so I suppose there was some planning involved." He traced a pattern with his finger on the table over and over again. "Most of the time it just sort of happened. I would go to a bar and they would be there. I would watch and they would drink and go to drive, they would take some girl to the alley, they would do the same things that they had just promised they wouldn't. It was frustrating and I had to stop them."

"Why you?"

"Why not? Why does someone chose one path over another. Life gives you many options, it's all in what you chose. The first time it wasn't a conscience decision…" Suddenly there was a slam on the door and I jumped.

"Time's up." A guard came into the room and went to Edward's side to lead him out of the room. I was disappointed, he was finally opening up and it didn't seem like an hour had gone by already.

"Same time tomorrow?" He just nodded and shuffled his way out of the room. I hadn't noticed the chains around his ankles earlier. I watched him walk out and even though he had only four days to live he still held his head up high as he moved down the hallway.

I packed my things into my briefcase and closed it. I couldn't wait to get back to the office and listen to the interview again. There were so many things that I wanted to cover tomorrow and I hoped that it wouldn't take too long for him to open up again. As I drove out through the gates and took one last look at the prison I couldn't help but wonder where he was inside and what he was doing at this very moment.

_Thank you again, more coming next Friday!_

_Jaime_


	3. Tuesday

_**A/N – Sorry this is a little late. I can't imagine what could have delayed me this week? Hmmmm….**_

_**Thank you as always to the readers, Tiggrmommi, Pomme_de_terre, VJGM, Emibella, GinnyW, and anyone I am sure I have forgotten.**_

_**I do not own the characters, only the story.**_

**Tuesday – San Quentin Prison**

Even though I didn't want to admit it to myself I took extra care getting ready in the morning before I drove to the prison. I was no longer wearing long sleeves and a jacket but something lighter to accommodate for the heat inside the walls. I had spent the previous evening listening to my tape over and over again, lulled by his voice and trying to prepare for today. After calling his lawyer I was able to secure additional time for the next four days and wanted to use them as wisely as possible.

As I drove back through the gates I wondered what today would bring. I had prepared new questions that I wasn't sure that I would even use. My boss had pumped me for information as soon as I had gotten back to the office but I wasn't quite prepared to talk about it yet. I wanted to keep the information to myself and think it over before I discussed it with her.

When I got to the room he wasn't there yet so I went through the ritual of getting everything ready to try to calm my nerves. I didn't look up when the door was opened but I could hear the sound of his shoes scraping along the concrete floor, his chain being dragged along with them. The chair was moved back for him and he sat down without saying a word. I wasn't going to allow a moment of this time to be wasted so I started to talk immediately.

"Good afternoon Mr. Cullen." I started the recorder and took out my pen prepared to take notes.

"Please call me Edward."

"Thank you, good afternoon Edward." Under normal circumstances I would have extended the same courtesy but when interviewing a murderer the usual rules of etiquette went out the window.

"Good afternoon Bella." Apparently he felt the same way about things not being normal given the situation. My name sounded so different coming from him. I wanted to hear it again but I didn't want to encourage that kind of intimacy with him.

"When we left off yesterday we were talking about the first time not being a conscience decision. What pushed you in that direction?" He looked up at me, his eyes weary. There were dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn't slept in days.

"Can we please talk about something else? I didn't sleep very well last night and I'm not quite ready to talk in detail about what I have done. I promise you I will, perhaps even later on today but I'm just not up for it yet." He gave me a half hearted smile and I didn't have the heart to push him on it.

"What was it like growing up with your aunt and uncle after your parent's death?" There were plenty of other topics to discuss so I could only hope that he would be forthcoming.

"They are very special people. They refused to use any of my parent's money for anything other than me, even when they could have used it. Some of the best people I have ever had the honor of knowing." His smile had left his face while he discussed them.

"Do you miss them?" I was hoping to interview the Cullen family next week but had had no luck setting up any interviews at this point.

"Like I told you yesterday, they don't approve of what I have done. They are still here for me though. They don't have it in them to write me off completely regardless of what I have done. We talk once a month."

"Does anyone ever visit you?" I already knew the answer to this but I wanted to hear it from him.

"You are the first visitor I have had since I have been here. There have been plenty of offers but seeing as how I am not planning on being around for long I figured there was not much use." He traced a circle with his finger over and over again. I had noticed that he did this whenever I asked a question that he was uncomfortable with so I changed the subject.

"You've never married, never had children; never had a serious relationship to anyone's knowledge. Is there a reason why you have lived a solitary existence?" I watched the expressions go across his face and wasn't able to distinguish one from the next.

"I never wanted to let anyone get that close to me. If something happened to me I didn't want anyone to go through the pain I went through when I lost my parents." He sighed as he finished speaking. For someone who hadn't planned the course his life had taken he seemed to have taken many precautions.

"But you can't spend your whole life avoiding relationships so you don't hurt someone." It made no sense. He didn't want anyone to be hurt if something happened to him but he murdered people who had to have families that loved them. "How do you justify what you have done given what you just said?" I knew that perhaps I was being harsh but I had come here to ask the tough questions and I was willing to accept the consequences.

"I know it doesn't make sense, even as I am saying the words it sounds ridiculous to me. I couldn't handle losing anyone again. I couldn't let anyone mean that much to me. Maybe that is why all of this was so easy." He put his hand in the air and motioned to the room around him. "I was willing to make that sacrifice so that no one else had to wonder where their sister or brother was late at night."

He made it all sound so selfless as if he had volunteered to help them cross the street, not brutally murder nine men.

"So you made these sacrifices and you turned yourself in. Was your freedom not sacrificing enough? You begged for the death penalty, why?" When he turned himself in that was his only stipulation. He wanted the death penalty, no trial, he was guilty and he wanted to die.

"Despite whom those men were, what they had done, their families deserved to see justice served. Every day I stay alive is a reminder to them of what they have lost. I hope that when I am gone it will give them some peace. I hope that what I did gives their victim's families peace as well."

He made it all sound so simple. Man gets released from prison, man goes back to old ways, other man stops him and all is well in the world again. Life didn't work that way though. There were always consequences to any actions as extreme as the ones that he had taken. He was an intelligent man. He had to have thought this through.

"The first time it happened it wasn't planned." I wasn't buying it. You don't carry around a knife of that caliber without alternative motives.

"Then why the knife? Why were you following him down a dark deserted alley?" It didn't add up. He had turned himself in so there was no reason to lie to avoid the death penalty. He had asked for it, demanded it.

A small laugh escaped from him. If it I hadn't heard it myself I would have never believed the sound came from him.

"Yes, that is hard to explain isn't it?" He ran his fingers through his hair and I waited for him to expand on his answer but it soon became obvious that I wasn't going to get anything else from him.

I shuffled my pages trying to get some direction from the words that were written on them. I only had five days to get the answers I needed and the more questions he answered the more baffled I became. He was nothing like I had expected him to be. I had expected him to be harsh, unapproachable and unremorseful. He seemed to actual have compassion for the families that he caused pain to and I wasn't sure how to digest that.

"Bella?" I'm not sure how long I had been sitting there staring at the pages in front of me before he called my name. I wasn't ready for this. I hadn't been doing this long enough to properly conduct an interview of this magnitude. He was probably wondering why they had sent someone incompetent here to him. I wouldn't be surprised if I wasn't allowed back tomorrow.

"Bella?" He said my name again and there wasn't a note of annoyance to it. It seemed more confused than anything.

"Sorry, where were we." I was surprised at how modulated and calm my voice sounded.

"I wasn't answering your last question." Humor laced his voice and I couldn't help but smile when I looked up at him.

"What is life like here? You're alone for the majority of the time, is that hard?" A change of tactics was in order so that I could regain control.

"It wasn't hard at all. I lived a rather solitary existence before I came here. Granted I had the ability to come and go as I pleased then but when given no other option you have the ability to adjust to almost anything." He made it all sound so simple as if he had just had a delay on a flight and was not sitting in prison.

"So the fact that you preferred your own company when you were free prepared you for death row?"

"I wasn't naïve enough to believe that I was prepared for prison. Nothing could ever prepare you for life here." He raised his arms up, encompassing the room around him. "It isn't so bad though. It was the choice I made."

"If you had the chance to do it again, would you?"

"Without hesitation." His voice was low but there was no mistaking the strength and conviction behind it. "When I saw him taking her outside into the alley, when I saw his fingers wrapped around her throat there really wasn't a question of what the right thing to do was."

"Couldn't you have just subdued them, waited for the police to come?" There was that laugh again.

"How many chances does one person get Bella? How many people have to be hurt before you realize that not everyone is worth saving?" He waited until I looked up at him before he continued talking. "If that had been your sister, your mother in that alley would you still have so much compassion?" His eyes burned as the words were spat from his mouth. I couldn't look away as he spoke. "I did what everyone wanted, even though they would never admit it to themselves."

"You actually believe that people condone your murders?" Perhaps a psych evaluation should be administered to him.

"I can tell what you are thinking. Don't worry, I was properly evaluated when I was first brought here. I don't think that people celebrate what I have done but I do think that somewhere in the back of their minds most people have had the same thoughts when someone gets away with doing the same thing over and over again. Not everyone is capable of change. I read the newspapers before I turned myself in. Whenever someone was released the press waited with baited breath, almost hoping that something would happen."

It was true, the coverage had been intense. When someone continued to live after a few weeks there was an air of disappointment in the newsroom.

"So did you do this to try to please people in some sick way?" This was no longer an interview as much as a dialogue.

"No! Is it easier to believe that I did this to gain satisfaction from others as opposed to doing it to satisfy myself? This was all for me, every murder, every death was because it was what I wanted." He slammed his hand on the table and stood up, looming over me. The guard was inside in an instant, hand on his gun.

"Everthing okay here?" I was shaken by his outburst but I wasn't about to leave. Edward looked down at me debating his options before he sat down again.

"We are fine." I smoothed down my shirt and looked over to him. "Are you ready?"

"I think we are done for today." With that he stood up again walked over to the guard. "Please take me back to my cell." And then he was gone.

_Thank you for reading, more coming soon. Probably around Tuesday due to the holiday weekend coming up. Let me know what you think. _

_Jaime_


	4. Wednesday

_**A/N – Well I told you it wouldn't be too long for the next update. With the holiday weekend here in the states I wanted to get it out early!**_

_**Thank you to all the wonderful readers for supporting this story, it means a lot to me.**_

_**As always a big thank you to Tiggrmommi, Pomme_de_terre, and VJGM. This story wouldn't have been possible without all of you.**_

_**I do not own the characters, only the story.**_

**  
Wednesday – San Quentin Prison**

I could barely sleep the previous night. I kept replaying the interview over and over in my head, wondering what today would bring. Would there even be an interview today? I kept thinking of the way he had lost control at the end of the interview. He always had such a tight reign over himself that it was disconcerting to see it slip. I had never feared him until that moment. He finally looked like someone who was capable of the heinous things he had confessed to.

Standing in front of my closet I wondered what would be the appropriate thing to wear today. I hadn't even gone back to my office after the incident yesterday. I was more shaken up than I had cared to admit. To have the interview end in that fashion was a confirmation of my beliefs that I wasn't prepared for this assignment.

I finally decided on some black pants with a light blue button up short sleeve shirt. I laid them on my bed and stepped into the bathroom to take a shower. As the warm water cascaded down my back I closed my eyes and saw yet again his face as he looked down over me. His eyes had been a vivid green as they burned with intensity and his face was rigid with rage. I shook my head and finished my shower.

After getting dressed I made my way to my living room and took my pad of paper out of my briefcase and looked at my notes. My phone rang as I was trying to decide how to proceed this afternoon.

"Hello."

"Bella, it's Angela, I just got off the phone with Edward Cullen's lawyer and I need to you to come in this morning." I hadn't expected it to happen so quickly but when your time was running low apparently you took care of things efficiently.

"I will in by ten." I hung up the phone and gathered up my briefcase. Perhaps if he agreed to someone else finishing the interview they would find my notes useful. I thought briefly about changing into different clothes but decided it wasn't worth the effort. I got into my car and headed into the office. On the way in I tried to think of different ways to justify the disaster that had been my interview. Different scenarios raced through my head but nothing seemed to be right. I would play it by ear and try to come up with answers as questions were given to me.

I pulled into my parking spot and walked into the building. I went straight to Angela's office and knocked on the door. She waved me inside and I was surprised to find someone in her office already.

"This is Mr. Cullen's lawyer Mr. Whitlock." He stood as I entered and held his hand out to me. I shook his hand and sat down in the chair across from him. Sending his lawyer was an unexpected move, even for him.

"I'm sorry to drop in unexpectedly on you Ms. Swan but Edward was insistent that I come in person." I said nothing. There was nothing that I had to add to this conversation. "He wanted to extend his deepest apologies for his behavior yesterday and ensure that you were returning this afternoon." Mr. Whitlock and Angela both looked at me waiting for a response.

"Thank you for coming. I plan on being there at the usual time." Mr. Whitlock thanked us for our time and left the office.

"Do I even want to know what that was about?" Angela looked mildly surprised, which was about as excited as I had ever seen her.

"It is a long story." I had no time to sit here and talk, I needed to review my notes and prepare for this afternoon. She looked like she was going to argue but thought better of it.

"I want to meet with you after you go to see him this afternoon." I agreed and went to my desk to look over my notes. I underlined a few things and headed out the door.

Edward was sitting down and waiting for me when I entered the room. He didn't look up, just continued to stare at his hands in front of him. I sat down and waited for some sort of acknowledgement but nothing came. Five minutes passed and I stood to leave. I thought that sending his lawyer had meant that he was ready to continue but apparently I had been wrong.

"Thank you for your time." I moved across the room to knock on the door so that I could get out of here.

"I'm sorry." His voice was barely more than a whisper. My hand stayed raised still poised to knock on the door. "I'm sorry for the way I acted yesterday. It was uncalled for. This was much harder than I thought it would be. I didn't think I would feel so much. I thought you would come in and ask some redundant questions and we would be done."

I sat back down, trying to find the right words. It was a fine line, trying to find the words that wouldn't set him off again.

"Why did you agree to this? You had to know that you couldn't control every aspect of it."

"If you recall I didn't agree to this. My wonderful lawyer volunteered me for this." I had had enough of this.

"I'll save you the energy Mr. Cullen. If you were forced to be a part of this I am freeing you of that burden. I have more than enough and I don't want to waste any more of your time." My head was pounding and all I wanted was to get out of this room, to get away from him.

"Please stay." I said nothing, just stood there at the door but I couldn't bring myself to knock on the door. "Please don't go. I'm sorry." I turned to look at him and he did look remorseful as he sat there running his fingers through his hair.

"Don't let it happen again." I sat back down. "Now where were we?"

"I think you were questioning me about my intentions." I knew exactly what we were talking about but I wanted to get his take on it.

"Oh yes, that question went so well." He actually laughed.

"I am sorry. I had no right to act that way." There was a small smile on his face.

"How about you stop apologizing and start answering questions." He nodded and I turned my recorder on once again. This was my third day sitting across from him and yet it was starting to seem like I had been doing this for much longer.

"What would you like to know?" He leaned his head down onto his hands and looked at me while he waited for his question.

" What has been the hardest thing about being in prison?" He looked surprised, as if my question had taken him off guard.

"The notoriety and the suspicion. When I first got here everyone watched me as if waiting for me to take down one of them. Which in a way is what I had been doing. In here they were safe from me though, in here they were being held accountable for their crimes."

"Is that what you wanted? For those men to be accountable for their actions?" Was life really so black and white for him? "What made this personal for you? Why get involved?"

"When someone got hurt that made it personal for me. No one likes injustice in the world. If no one is held accountable for their actions then what do we come to as a society?

"Some would argue that you are just as bad as they are." He left out a breath in a great rush.

"Is that how you feel? Do you think that I am on the same level as those that I have murdered?" His eyes bored into mine.

"It doesn't matter what I think." I hoped that he would let me avoid the question. Before I met him my answer was clear, yes he was on the same level. He had murdered several people, how else would I view him? Regardless of whatever his intentions might have been. Now I wasn't so sure.

"It does to me." I couldn't say anything. Words were my job and I had none at the moment. "Every day I can tell what everyone here thinks of me. Their thoughts are so clear, so apparent. With you it's different. I can't quite read you." His eyes searched mine and I remained silent. "I have never regretted not getting close to anyone until this point. It would be nice to know that there is someone else out there besides my family who would miss me when I was gone."

His fingers stretched out across the table towards mine and I pulled my hands away.

"What are you trying to do? You spent your whole life hiding from people so that you wouldn't hurt anyone and now you want me to care? What kind of sick game are you playing?" I flipped through my pages trying to find some words to distract me. I needed to get this interview back in control. It was as if he was deliberately messing with me.

"I don't play games Bella. What you see is what you get." He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms across his chest. I was tempted to leave, to walk away; career making opportunity be damned but I couldn't do it. There was something about him that made me stay in my seat.

"All I want is answers. I ask the questions, you answer. Do you think that you could handle that?" My voice sounded foreign to me and I hoped that he wouldn't notice that my hand was shaking.

"Once again I apologize." He moved his hands back to his lap and watched me as he waited for my next question.

"How did you react afterwards?" I would find him more human if I could believe that somehow what he had done had affected him because right now he seemed rather callous about everything.

He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "I was sick for days. Every time I closed my eyes I would see them. I couldn't sleep because I would dream about them and I barely ate. I know I make it seem like everything I did was easy but it wasn't. I think the sign of a true killer is someone who feels no remorse after killing someone. I can't imagine feeling nothing after taking someone's life."

Without thinking I reached out and patted his arm, trying to offer him some reassurance that while I didn't understand what he was going through, what he was remembering when his eyes were closed I did have sympathy for the pain he was in. I could feel his arm tense under my fingers and I quickly pulled them away.

"No." He started to protest but it was too late. My fingers burned where my skin had touched his. I tried to compose myself, to refocus on the reason why I was here. What was it about him that made it so hard to concentrate? I shook my head and started over yet again. I couldn't even remember what had been covered and what hadn't been. It had almost been three days and yet I hadn't really even begun to scratch the surface of what made him tick. He was good at deflecting my questions and I was running out of time and ways in which to pull this interview off.

"If it was so hard on you then why did you keep doing it?" The more information I got the harder he was to understand.

"I had no choice. We've already been through this. They had to pay for their actions." He sounded exasperated.

"But why you?" Everyone had their reasons for doing the things that they did but not everyone had to justify murder.

"Why not? What did I have to lose? I know what it is like to lose your family and if I saved even one person from that pain then it was worth it. Do you have any new questions on those pages in front of you?" I looked up from the pages I had been staring at as he answered.

"What does it matter if I have any new questions? Are you actually going to answer them or change the subject when you don't like what I am asking? Or better yet put an end to the interview because you are so unused to human companionship that you don't know how to act with common courtesy anymore?" I threw the paper on the ground and stared at him as my hands gripped the table. It was wrong to lose control, wrong to even talk to him like this but I didn't care anymore. Every word that came out of his mouth infuriated me. "If you haven't noticed I am on your side. I don't think that you are a monster. For some reason I don't even care that you have killed people. I am trying to understand your side of it and from what I gather you don't have one. You are too busy trying to push me away. I know you didn't agree to this so please do me a favor and put an end to this charade of an interview. When you sent your lawyer today I thought that you were ready to stop being evasive. I realize that with Friday only two days away that you have a lot on your mind but guess what this is your last opportunity to share that with people. There are many people out there who agree with what you have done that want to know the person behind the murders but only you can share that with them."

My hands were shaking but this time I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of walking out. If he wanted me gone he was going to have to send me out. I was done with being a pushover to him.

"You're on my side?" Out of everything that I said that was the only thing that he caught? It was typical of this entire interview to date.

"Isn't it obvious? Do you think I keep coming back here for your sparkling personality?" He started laughing, a full throated head thrown back laugh.

"No one has ever stood up to me before. My family always felt slightly sorry for me and I never gave them any reason to before."

"You are a bit of an ass. I'm really surprised it hasn't happened sooner." I covered my mouth with my hand. I hadn't meant to actually say the words out loud.

"If only things were different. I would have enjoyed getting to know you." His smiled faded a bit as he collected himself.

"What would you like to know?" My questions would wait. I had a feeling that I would learn more about him this way.

"Are you married?" He looked at my left hand where there was no ring.

"No." He grinned and tapped his fingers on the table.

"Look how verbose my little reporter is." I rolled my eyes at him.

"I graduated high school, moved on to college and have been focusing on my career. There will be time for such things later." It was a conversation that I had with my mother week after week.

"So no special person waiting for you at home after you spend your afternoons talking with me? No one to offer comfort after I offend you." He looked down at his fingers as they traced the number eight over and over again on the table.

"Don't flatter yourself. Once I leave here I don't think about what has happened." It was a blatant lie, he was the only thing I had been able to think about lately but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

"Hmmm….I'm not sure if I believe that. I know that after you leave you are the only thing I can think about all night long." His voice had trailed off as he said the last few words and I wasn't sure if I heard him correctly.

"You really don't have a lot to do in here do you?" We both laughed and I felt the tension dissipate.

"I try not to think of other things. If I can avoid thinking about Friday then it will almost be like it isn't happening." This was the first time he had ever brought up his impending execution. He had given the impression all along that he was ready and nothing to make me believe anything to the contrary.

"Are you scared?" He took a deep sigh and his fingers found their way through his hair again.

"I'm anxious for it to be over and yet still not ready to say goodbye. I accepted that this was my fate when I started down this path but now that there are only hours left it is getting a bit harder. Every time I walk in and out of here people stare at me and point at me because they know that I am the next one gone." He took another deep breath and placed his hands back on the table. I reached a hand out and placed it over his.

"I'm here if you want to talk about it. I promise that whatever you say will be off the record." He turned his hand over underneath mine and wrapped his fingers around my palm.

"Thank you." A knock on the door caused us to jump back in our seats and both of us placed our hands in our laps.

"Time's up Ms. Swan." The fresh faced guard waited inside the room while I gathered my stuff and made my exit. I looked back at Edward before I went out the door.

"Same time tomorrow?" His face looked immeasurably older as he headed back to his cell. He had lost the carefree look that he had had those last few minutes of our conversation.

"Yes." He walked out the door and didn't look back as he was lead away.

_**More coming very soon.**_

_**Thank you for taking the time to read.**_

_**Jaime**_


	5. Thursday

_**Hello again! I hope that everyone had a good week. **_

_**Thank you again to Tiggrmommi, VJGM, Pomme_de_terre, and everyone who is taking the time to read this little story!**_

_**Without further ado…here you go.**_

_**I do not own the characters, only the story.**_

**Thursday – San Quentin Prison**

The rest of my day had passed in a daze. I went into the office and Angela sent me home after I wouldn't give her more than one word answers to any of her questions. I wished that I had never agreed to come into the office. I was still trying to process the events of the day when I got home. Getting close to him was something I couldn't afford to do. He was the subject of my interview, a man scheduled to die in two days. He was a murderer, a killer, someone who cared nothing about the value of human life.

Even I couldn't let myself believe those things. There was more to him than I had ever imagined there could be. He was still the person who had murdered all of those people but he was someone who firmly believed that he was doing the right thing. He felt justified in doing what he had to do. I went to bed that night and only dreamed of him. The dejected way he walked out of the room at the end of the interview was the last thing I remembered as I woke up covered in sweat.

I turned off my alarm and went into the shower trying to ready myself to face another day in that place. I wasn't sure how he had managed to survive so long in there, alienating himself from the world. I found myself wishing that he had never turned himself in. That we had met at another time in another place but those thoughts would get me nowhere. We were here now and I would conduct this interview to the best of my ability.

I pulled on slacks and a sweater and then pulled my hair back into a ponytail. I told myself that there was nothing unusual about me putting on a little extra make up. It was very hot inside those walls and I wanted to be sure it would last through the day. As I got into the car and started on my way I wondered what Edward I would get today. Yesterday ended on an odd note and I didn't know how to act when I saw him again. Would it be okay to smile? Would he try to touch me again?

I pushed all my thoughts aside as I parked and checked in. I tried not to think about the fact that this was almost my last day of checking in. Angela and I hadn't discussed whether or not I would be present for the execution, neither had Edward or I for that matter. It wasn't something that I had felt comfortable bringing up but it wasn't something I could avoid forever. Forever was something that we didn't have.

He wasn't there when I got to our room and so I sat and waited, fidgeting with my pen and double and triple checking my tape recorder when finally I heard footsteps in the corridor. I ignored the erratic beating of my heart, tried in vain to not look up when I heard the doorknob turn. He looked even more tired than the previous day if that was possible. I wanted to scold him and tell him to take care of himself, to get proper rest but when you only had hours to live why sleep?

He sat down quickly and waited for the door to close before he smiled at me.

"How was your night?" It was fairly obvious how his night had gone but it seemed like the polite question to ask.

"Long. How was yours? Did you dream? It has been so long since I have actually slept, I don't quite remember what it was like anymore." He seemed so eager to hear about it, to live vicariously through me.

"It was restless, my dreams were scattered." I hoped that he wouldn't press for more information but I should have known better.

"What did you dream about?" He seemed genuinely interested and he looked more alive as we talked. I tried to think of something that would sound believable but my mind was incapable of editing my mouth.

"You." His eyes lit up as he stared across the table at me.

"So not only do you have to spend your days with me but your nights as well?" He was much more lighthearted today than I had ever seen him.

"There is no escaping you." I started laughing but soon noticed that he hadn't joined in.

"About tomorrow night." My laughter died down immediately. "I would like if you would be there."

"You want me to watch?" I couldn't add the rest of the sentence. I couldn't verbalize his death in any way.

"I know it is a selfish thing for me to ask, possibly even cruel but I would like to have someone there who I can look at and try to escape what is happening. If I could look and see you there then I can leave this world with my last memories filled with something beautiful and pure." I struggled to swallow over the lump in my throat.

"I'll be there." I would not think about what this might do to me. While I might be able to offer him some slight comfort during his last minutes I would have to still live with what I might see. "Is that allowed?"

"I've spoken with my lawyer and he can arrange the necessary paperwork. I can give you his number or I can give him yours." I ripped out a piece of paper and wrote my number on it and passed it across the table to him. Then a thought occurred to me.

"Will your family be there?" We had never discussed them in depth and while I assumed that they would want to spend his last few hours together I had learned that people rarely did what you would expect them to.

"Yes, they are spending as much time with me as they can on Friday. You are welcome to join us." He extended the invitation as if we were discussing a dinner party and not the last few hours of his life.

"No, I wouldn't dream of intruding." I couldn't imagine what it would be like to watch his family try to say goodbye with a stranger in the room.

"You're right. That might be uncomfortable for them. I would like it though." He gave me a small smile and I looked away.

"I'm still coming in tomorrow morning if you are up for it." It was all I had to offer him. "I don't know what the schedule is like tomorrow but I will stay as long as I possibly can."

"I would like that." This time the smile stayed on his face a bit longer. "Could I bother you for one more favor?" He held up his hand to stop me before I had a chance to answer. "I know that I have no right to ask you for anything but this is relatively simple." This time he waited for a response.

"Go on, I can't agree to anything until I know what it is."

"I was hoping that you could dress a bit more casually tomorrow then I could feel like this is a little less like work for you. Don't get me wrong, I understand that this is your job but it would be nice to believe that someone was here because they wanted to be tomorrow, someone other than my family." He stared into the corner of the room. A sure sign that he was nervous about what he had said.

"This stopped being a job the second day Edward. I wanted this assignment, I won't lie. But as each hour I spend with you passes I find myself liking you and that was the last thing I ever expected." It was my turn to hold up my hand so he wouldn't interrupt me. "I didn't anticipate hating you, I thought I would be intrigued by you and slightly disgusted by your motives but you surprised me. You didn't do this for the notoriety, you didn't want praise and you didn't even welcome the attention. You did this because you felt you had to for the greater good of those around you. I almost couldn't believe that you were even capable of the things you admitted to doing. Yet there are moments when I realize how dangerous you are capable of being and yet still I can't seem to stay away."

"I am dangerous Bella, please make no mistake of that. I have done some things that no one should ever have to do but it was all necessary. I could have never imagined that my life would come to this. When I was little I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to help people, to save them and now look what I have become. Some days I don't even recognize myself anymore. I still believe in what I did but it is getting harder to remember why as the hours go by." His fingers found their home in his hair again and then moved down to his eyes as he rubbed them vigorously.

"Perhaps in your own way you did save people. Not in the way you had originally intended but surely lives were saved through your actions." I couldn't believe I was justifying murder but I could see that this was eating him alive. Three days ago he was upset when I questioned his motives and now he had no fight left in him. Perhaps that was a good thing, what good would it do him to fight? Still I hated to see him so desolate.

"Thank you." His eyes were red from where his knuckles had dug into them. "Why don't we talk about something else for a while? I haven't been much of an interview so far have I? You have been more understanding than I deserve. What would you like to know?"

I looked down at the questions in front of me and they all seemed so pointless as I sat here. This man in front of me was waiting to die, had only hours to live and I was pretty sure that he didn't want to discuss his childhood, his job, his life in prison. I remember writing down the questions and thinking how if only I had the answer to these questions I might be able to figure him out, to give people insight into his mind and how everyone would be astounded that I was able to get out of him what no one to date had succeeded in getting. Now I felt ashamed of myself, he wasn't a stepping stone to my career. He was a flesh and blood person who was sitting here hurting in front of me.

"Why don't we just talk? There is nothing important on here that I need to know." He actually looked relieved. He was willing to do what had been promised of him, not out of desire but out of obligation and I knew without a doubt he would have answered any question that I gave him.

"I think I would like that very much. I hope that you don't mind if I ask the first question. Why did you want this assignment?" He never missed a thing that I said. Even when I whispered something to myself he heard me.

"I thought that I could succeed where others had failed. I thought that you would tell me everything and that this interview could be the turning point in my career." I looked down, ashamed that I had just admitted to using him to further myself.

"You don't want that for yourself anymore? You don't want your career to move on to bigger and better things?" He looked confused. "I wouldn't mind you know. If that was something I could do to help you out after all of this was over it wouldn't bother me. You have to look out for yourself Bella. Nothing you could do would hurt me. There will be no me to hurt soon." His hand stretched across the table as if he was trying to comfort me. I moved my hand until the ends of our fingers touched. "Really Bella ask whatever you need to if it helps you."

"I can't be that person, can't be the one who furthers themselves at the expense of others. I thought that this was what I wanted that somehow this would satisfy me but it isn't like I thought it would be." He moved his hand over the top of mine and patted it.

"You thought you would interview someone more exciting?" He laughed as he said the words.

"No," I laughed. "I thought I would be able to keep my distance and I've realized I can't."

"Is that such a bad thing?" He started to pull his hand away and I shook my head.

"In my line of work, yes, it is very bad. Some things can't be helped though." We sat and stared at each other for countless seconds.

"What did you expect? When you came here what did you expect to find?" His fingers tensed over mine.

"I expected to find someone who had no remorse. Someone who believed strongly in what he did and offered no apologies for it. I didn't think that you would be frightening or intimidating based on what I had seen of you in other coverage but I did expect someone who was a bit cockier. If any of that makes any sense." He nodded his head as if he understood what I was saying.

"I think that by refusing all press I gave the press free reign to develop their own preconceived notions about me. There was really no point in changing anyone's opinion of me."

"Why did your lawyer want you to do this interview then?"

"What you have to understand is that my lawyer is also my brother in law. If you don't recall I had no need for a lawyer since I had no trial, no appeals, and such. He is mainly my estate lawyer and so I am using him to get my affairs in order. This interview was set up at the insistence of my sister, Jasper's wife. She wanted people to understand me, my motives because even if she didn't agree with what I had done she knew that at heart I wasn't evil and wanted others to understand that." He laughed shortly. "As usual what Alice wants Alice gets since you are sitting here in front of me."

"Do you regret agreeing…" I wasn't exactly sure that he had ever agreed to it. "Do you regret doing this?" He shook his head immediately.

"I almost regret not doing it sooner. No that isn't true, I don't like dealing with people, don't particularly like talking about myself. I never have. I'm really not that exciting to be honest. Aside from what landed me in here I have lead a rather uneventful life." I almost laughed, aside from the little murder thing his life had been boring. I imagine that it would make anyone's life a bit more eventful. "If you don't think that you can do this anymore then what are your plans after this interview?"

"I haven't thought about much past this Friday to be honest." When I first imagined my plans for this weekend it involved celebrating my first successful interview and now I realize how naïve I was to believe that this experience wouldn't affect me.

"Funny, me either." I know that he was trying to be light hearted for my benefit and it only made me feel worse.

"Don't say that." I wasn't sure how I could manage the next day and a half, trying to pretend that everything was normal, that I could handle this. For him I would be strong though, he wasn't looking to me for support but I was here in a professional capacity and I had to maintain my dignity.

"Listen I am ready for this. It won't be easy by any means but I understood the repercussions of my actions when I started down this road. Don't let it hold you back from what you set out to do, you still have a life to live." I shook my head in agreement but looked down as the table in front of me blurred as tear filled my eyes. "Please Bella for me, promise you won't give up on what you set out to do. I've already sacrificed my life, don't sacrifice yours. You are meant for so much better. Don't settle for anything less than what you deserve."

"I p-p-p-romise." It came out shaky and I quickly used a hand to wipe the moisture from my eyes. His fingers were warm as they came to my face and helped to wipe away the one tear that had escaped.

"It will be okay. One day you will forget me, forgot all of this and you will wonder why you ever cared so much." I wanted to argue, to yell at him for thinking that my feelings were invalid but he put a finger to my lips. "Perhaps that was rude of me to say. I have no doubt that this will affect you for some time but one day all of this will fade. Don't argue, I'm not saying it will fade because you don't care or are heartless but it will fade because it needs to in order for your life to continue. You can't dwell in the past." I knew that what he was saying made sense I just didn't want to hear it at the moment. "Why don't' we change the subject again? What kind of music do you like?"

I smiled at him, appreciating the effort he was making in order to cheer me up. We spent the rest of the afternoon disliking our likes and dislikes, keeping the topics light and low key. We shared a lot of the same interests from music to books and I was about to recommend a new book to him when I stopped myself.

"You don't have to censor yourself Bella. Just because I won't be around to read a new book you like doesn't mean I don't want to hear about it. Don't second guess everything that you want to say. Let's just talk." He smiled and nodded his head as if to let me know that it was okay to keep talking about it.

"How do you do that?" I felt horrible that he had to comfort me.

"Do what?" He had kept his hand in contact with me the entire time and he was rubbing his finger along my palm.

"How do you manage to comfort me at a time like this? You shouldn't have to." He stopped moving his finger and stared at my hand for some time before looking up at me.

"Your being here brings me comfort. This was the last thing I expected when Jasper told me about the interview. If I can return the favor then it is the least that I can do." He changed the subject yet again and long before I was ready our time was over for the day. He gave my fingers one last squeeze before the guard entered and nodded at me as he was lead away. His demeanor had changed instantly and I sat alone in the room for a moment, gathering my thoughts.

As I walked to my car I looked back at the prison and wondered where he was inside and what he was doing. I tried not to think about the fact that when I came back tomorrow there would be no more days left. I focused on the drive home and made myself wait until I got home to fall apart.

_**There isn't much to say after that other than thank you and I will be back next week.**_

_**Jaime**_


	6. Friday Morning

_**Author's Note – Thank you for all the support for this story. I know it isn't the norm but it was something I really wanted to write.**_

_**Thank you as always to Tiggrmommi, Pomme_de_Terre, and VJGM for all their support.**_

_**I do not own the characters, only the story.**_

**Friday Morning **

I couldn't sleep at all that night. I tossed and turned, every time I closed my eyes I would see him and I would lay there in bed dry heaving. Eventually around two in the morning I gave up and went into the kitchen where I made myself a cup of hot chocolate. With shaking hands I took my tape recorder out of my bag and started to listen to the tapes from our interview. His voice filled my kitchen and I just closed my eyes and listened to day after day and noticed how our talks changed as the hours passed. As I listened the sun began to fill the room and I got up so that I could get ready for the day.

I took a shower and as I wiped the condensation from the mirror I doubted that there was anything that I could do in order to make myself presentable today. I picked out a skirt and a fitted blue wrap shirt. I did my best to conceal my lack of sleep with make-up and brushed my hair so that it flowed down my back. I didn't try to deny myself that I was taking extra effort to get ready, I had given up that fight a long time ago. I gave my lips one last swipe of gloss and headed out the door.

The drive took longer than it usually did. News vans were stationed outside of the prison and protestors were lined up holding signs up high over their heads. I didn't bother looking at them I had been in the business long enough to know what they would say. My head stayed down while I drove though, not making eye contact with anyone, trying my best to block out anything they might say. Someone slammed their hand on my car as I passed and started to scream something I couldn't quite understand. I just wanted to make it inside and not have to deal with this too. Today was going to be hard enough.

Finally I made it through the gates and went into the bathrooms for a moment to compose myself before I went to the interview room. I was already ten minutes late and I did my best to calm myself down in a timely manner. When I entered the room he let out a sigh of relief.

"I was worried that you weren't going to come." He looked horrible. The circles under his eyes were darker and his skin was pale and ashen.

"Sorry it took a bit longer to get in today." I didn't want to elaborate on the reasons why.

"Yes, the guards told me about the protesters outside. Sorry, I hope it wasn't too bad to get through." He took a deep breath as I sat down across from him.

"It wasn't a problem." I wasn't sure what to say anymore. He seemed happy to have me there but I wasn't sure what we should talk about.

"You look very nice." I looked down at the clothes I had picked out, not remembering what I was wearing.

"Thank you." He looked like hell but that didn't seem like the proper thing to say.

"You don't look like you slept very well though." He looked concerned even though he looked much worse than I did.

"I couldn't sleep." I pulled on my hair self consciously.

"I know the feeling." He rubbed his eyes. "I was thinking about you last night." He seemed to perk up a bit as he changed the subject.

"What were you thinking about?" I debated about turning off the tape recorder, not sure if I would be strong enough to listen to all of this again later on. Finally I decided that I would possibly regret not having it one day.

"I was thinking about things I would have liked to do with you. Even something as simple as sharing a meal with you is a memory I would like to have had." I didn't try to hide the tears as they fell down my face. "I'm sorry, I'll change the subject." He looked distressed as the words left his mouth.

I wiped away my tears as I shook my head.

"No, I was thinking the same thing last night. I wondered what it would have been like if we had met under different circumstances, what our chances might have been." My voice shook with emotion as my tears fell onto the table.

"In my dreams we were incredible together." His voice was low but filled with an emotion that I hadn't heard from him yet.

"Mine too." Our hands stretched across the table until they were joined. He squeezed my hand tightly as he closed his eyes.

"I'm so sorry Bella." He opened his eyes and they were shining with tears. "I'm sorry that you will have to be alone after this. I never wanted you to care about me and I hate to think about the pain you will be in after tonight. I almost wish that you would have never met me. This would be easier if I knew that I wasn't leaving you behind."

"I'll be okay." The words didn't even sound believable to me. "You were still leaving your family behind though. That couldn't be easy."

"Nothing about today is easy but my family has each other and somehow that comforted me. You never mention your family and so I worry about you more." He used his hand to brush a stray hair away from my face.

"I'm an only child and I'm not close to my parents." Even if I was close to them I could have never turned to them after this. My mother had her own life and my father was a police officer who wouldn't condone me having feelings for a murderer.

"Where will you go after…" He hesitated for a moment. "Where will you go after tonight?"

"I'll go home. I have the next few days off anyways." I was supposed to be working on my article, Angela wanted it by Monday morning but all of that seemed so unimportant at the moment.

"I wish I could be there for you. I wish you had never met me." He looked so broken sitting across from me.

"Don't say that, please don't ever say that." I squeezed his hand, trying to let him know that I needed him to be strong. I could survive this if he remained strong. It was selfish of me but I needed the comfort. "I will never regret knowing you, please don't forget that."

"Thank you. How about we change the subject?" He looked away quickly while he used his free hand to wipe at his eyes.

"What would you like to talk about?" My head hurt and I couldn't think of any other subjects at the moment other than what was scheduled to happen in mere hours.

"Why did you go into this field of work?" I felt like we were wasting time if we talked about me but this was what he wanted. I knew I should ask him endless questions but I didn't have the strength at the moment.

"I'm not much of a people person and this was what my teacher's used in school to get me to open up. I was always capable of using written words to express myself in a way that I wasn't capable of doing out loud and so I majored in journalism in college and this is where I landed afterwards." It was a story I had told many times and yet it all sounded trite as I said them.

"Do you enjoy what you do?" This sounded like a conversation we should be having on a first date, the getting to know you phase of a relationship and yet it was marred by the fact that we would never move on from this phase in our relationship.

"I love it. No day is ever the same and knowing that someone out there is reading what I wrote is a gratifying feeling." He smiled at me as if he was proud of what I had accomplished and it felt good to know that he felt that way. "What about you? Why did you go into your line of work?" He had been a successful consultant who owned his own business before all of this. It had been big news when his employees discovered that he had set up funds for each of them to be paid for the next five years.

"I originally wanted to be a doctor but I was disillusioned by the world around me. I used my parent's money to start my own consulting firm as a way to have some more control over my life. I found that I enjoyed it and I was good at it." He clenched his free hand into a fist. "What does it matter? Really? Why are we talking about this as if it matters? It seems like a lifetime ago. I want to know about you? Your favorite flower, your idea of a perfect date, what you do in your free time, what makes you laugh, what makes you cry."

"But I want to know about you. I want to know those things about you too! I want to know your likes and dislikes." My voice cracked as I spoke and he looked even more exhausted.

"Why Bella? Why do you want to know those things? What does it matter? By this time tomorrow what I like or didn't like won't matter anymore." He looked confused as he said the words as if already his life was forgotten.

"It will matter to me!" I couldn't help the way my voice rose. "It matters to me because I care about you. I'd like to know that if I was walking down the street and I saw a daffodil or whatever flower it is you like that it in some small way is a connection to you. I don't want to walk out of here tonight not knowing anything substantial about you. I want to know something about you that I wasn't able to read about you before I met you. You may think it doesn't matter but it does. It will be all I have left." My breath was coming in gasps but I managed to hold my tears at bay.

"I didn't think of it that way, I'm sorry." He pulled my other hand into his and pulled them flush against his chest. "I like sunflowers, they always make me happy. I enjoy going to the beach and always thought that having dinner in the moonlight on the beach would be a very romantic date but I never found a woman worth going through that trouble for. I wish I could do that for you though." He reached out to wipe a tear as it fell from my eye. "My favorite food is steak and I prefer red wine to white. I don't have a favorite book because I enjoy reading far too much to just pick one and if forced to pick my favorite muppet I would have to choose Kermit the Frog."

I laughed through my tears at this bit of information. "I am rather partial to the little green guy myself."

"A frog in love with a pig, how can you go wrong with that?" He joined me in laughing. "So I would like to know about you too."

"It's hard to think of anything after Kermit but let me try. I love tulips. I've never given much thought to a dream date because I haven't had many. I suppose any date where the man didn't end up licking my face at the end of it is a bonus." He stuck out his tongue and moved closer to my face and I couldn't stop laughing. "Don't even think about it."

"Who in the world licked you?" He pulled away from my face.

"Let's not talk about that, he was more dog than man. " I looked down at our hands still linked together. "I think that the beach would have been very nice." We both got quiet, the moment of levity broken.

"I would do it for you if I could. There is so much I would like to do for you." He closed his eyes and brought our hands to his face and rubbed against them. I could feel the stubble from his face burning a path along my hand.

"I know. I feel the same way." We stayed silent, neither one of us sure of what to say. "So what happens now? How much time do we have together today?"

"You can stay as long as you want. They are quite lenient when your hours are numbered." Hours, we were down to hours now. Not even half a day remained of our time together. "I'd like for you to stay, please stay."

He sounded so desperate asking me that I couldn't tell him no. "I'll stay as long as you want me to."

"Forever," he whispered. "Please stay forever." We sat there, each holding onto each other, neither one of us saying a word. There were so many things that I wanted to say, so many things that we should be talking about but nothing seemed important at the moment. Nothing was more important than just holding on to each other.

A knock on the door alerted us to the presence of the world around us. He didn't even bother to pull away from me. What did it matter at this point? A guard came into the room to let us know that Edward's family was here. I stood up to leave and he pulled me back down.

"I thought you had agreed to forever." His hand pulled harder on mine until I was sitting down in my chair again.

"But your family, don't you want time alone with them? I don't want to intrude, it would be rude." Still he wouldn't let go of me.

"Today is about me and this is what I want. Please just stay." I started to vocalize another argument when the guard opened the door again and started to unlock Edward for moving. I must have looked confused because he turned and addressed me.

"This room isn't big enough. We are moving him down the hall." I followed as he led Edward down to a different room. I tried to ignore the sound of the chains around his ankles dragging along the hard concrete floor. It seemed to fill my head and it was pounding by the time we reached our new room.

As we walked in Edward reached for my hand and squeezed. Immediately six sets of eyes were on us which only served to make me more self conscious. To my surprise they began to unlock and remove the hand and ankle cuffs. He flexed his hands and rubbed his wrists as soon as they were off. The guard stepped out of the room and remained stationed on the other side of the door. As soon as he was out of the room an older woman came up to Edward and hugged him while tears streamed down her face. This scene was repeated with every other person while I stood awkwardly in the corner and watched.

I debated about trying to leave. I didn't belong here, this was their time to be together but as if he sensed my intent Edward came to my side and reached for my hand. His family looked at me suspiciously. Who could blame them though? Here was this stranger with them, intruding on a very intimate moment.

"Everyone this is Bella, she came to interview me this week." Everyone nodded their greeting, no one able to say the words. I did notice that every single one of them looked down at our hands though as we all stood there staring at each other.

"It's nice to see you again." Edward's lawyer broke the silence in the room as he held out his hand to me.

"You too Mr. Whitlock." I shook his hand.

"Please call me Jasper. This is my wife Alice." Introductions were made around the room and hesitant handshakes were exchanged. They needed time alone so I excused myself.

"Bella please don't go." He placed a hand on my shoulder applying gentle pressure to stop me.

"I'll be right back. I need to make a few phone calls but I promise I will be back." I turned to face him. "I promise I won't be long. Please spend time with your family." I whispered. He looked hesitant to let me go but eventually removed his hand from my shoulder. "I promise." I whispered one last time before I motioned for the guard to open the door for me.

I walked down the hall and stopped halfway down and leaned against the wall. Bending over I rested my elbows on my knees while I tried to catch my breath. I looked at my watch and realized that only a few hours remained before he would be taken away. I retrieved my purse and checked my messages. I wasn't surprised to find several from Angela. Knowing that I should call her back I quickly dialed her number and was relieved when I got her voicemail. I quickly explained the situation and let her know that I would be contacting her in the morning. I turned off my phone and threw it back into my purse.

Finding the bathroom I went inside to compose myself yet again. I came out of the stall where I had allowed myself a few minutes to just let go and splashed water on my face thankful that I had remembered to pack a compact in my purse. I went through the motions of trying to look presentable because for some reason it still mattered that I appear composed to him.

Finally I made my way back down the hall. It seemed like hours since I had last seen him but I knew that it hadn't been more than fifteen minutes. The guard started to open the door as he saw me approaching but I shook my head. I wanted to look inside first and make sure that I wasn't interrupting anything. As if he were attuned to me Edward looked up as soon as I peered inside the room. His family followed his gaze and watched me until I came back into the room. It was silent as soon as I entered but Edward moved to be by my side and guided me to the chair that was next to him. His aunt was crying softly in the corner as his uncle tried to comfort her. I felt out of place, an intruder on an intimate moment but it was clear that Edward was not going to let me leave.

I tried my best to blend into the background. The conversation went on around me and I found it hard to focus on the words being said. All my focus was on the man next to me. The way his fingers flexed underneath mine and the warmth that I felt transfer from his body to mine. While it was obvious that no one was completely comfortable with my presence no one said a word about it. It was clear that Edward would not tolerate any objections to me.

I said nothing but it was almost as if I could physically feel each and every minute ticking by. As I watched the second hand tick by my heart skipped a beat every time it moved. I tried to focus on the conversation around me, talks about their childhood together, favorite memories all things that I couldn't contribute to in any way. Each time I would look up at the clock Edward would squeeze my hand as if he was reassuring me. I wasn't doing so well at being present as a source of comfort to him. Somehow the clocked started moving faster and faster, time moved at a rate at which I had never experienced. I was not the only one who noticed this phenomenon because there was a marked increase in sobs from his aunt.

I watched in amazement as the clock continued to tick down at its rapid rate. Seventy five minutes, sixty minutes, fifty minutes, forty five minutes. There was a knock on the door as thirty minutes remaining approached. We all jumped at the sound since the room had become relatively quiet as we all watched the clock.

"You have ten minutes." The guard was gone as quickly as he had appeared. Edward had declined a last meal assuring us that he was incapable of eating a bite of anything and so now we all stood as the sound of the door closing echoed in the room.

His Aunt Esme arose from her chair and threw her arms around him as her sobs overtook her. She wailed his name and his Uncle Carlisle gently lead her away and comforted her as her body shook from the force of her sorrow. I had pulled myself away during this time and stayed off to the side watching the heartbreaking scene in front of me. His cousin's wife Rose came up to him next and gave him a hug, whispering something in his ear as she held on tightly. Emmett was next, first offering him a handshake before shaking his head and drawing him into a hug. There were tears in his eyes as he pulled away and Rose pulled him into her arms offering him whatever meager comfort she could. Jasper also gave him a hug and nodded as they both looked towards me. Alice hadn't stopped crying since the guard knocked on the door and he gave her the largest hug of them all, tears streaming down his face as he pulled away. He walked over to where his aunt and uncle were sitting and wrapped his arms around both of them.

Unable to stand on my own two feet as I watched the goodbyes taking place I took a chair that was positioned by the table and laid my head on the cool faux wood. I didn't bother to stop the tears that flowed down my face. I didn't belong here during this and yet they would have to drag me away to make me leave. A hand rubbed small circles on my back and I looked up, my eyes raw from the pain I was experiencing.

"It will be okay." I looked into the warm eyes of Jasper and tried to shake my head in denial but he continued to talk. "This was his choice, he'll be okay. You don't need to be strong for him. It will be nice for him to know how much you care." Jasper walked away and I could hear the door open behind me, the sound of sobs getting fainter as it closed again.

We were all alone and I stood from the table and wrapped my arms around him. I could barely see him through the tears that filled my eyes. I felt his arms wrap around me and pull me closer to him.

"Bella." He whispered my name and I just held onto him tighter, never wanting to let him go. "Bella." He whispered my name again while placing a finger under my chin to force me to look up at him. "It's almost time for me to go."

I shook my head from side to side, hoping that through sheer will alone I could stop the events that were about to unfold.

"It's time to say goodbye." I was shaking my head frantically now, not ready to say goodbye. He placed a hand on either side of my face to keep my head still. "Please, I need to hear your voice one last time. I want your voice to be the last thing I remember."

Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks. "Edward, I don't think I can say goodbye." He lifted my face so I was forced to look up into his eyes. He didn't try to hide or stop the tears that flowed down his face.

"You don't have to say it then." He was about to say something else when the door opened again.

"It's time." The guard was gruff as he approached Edward.

"Please not yet." The guard shook his head. There was no bargaining for extra time. Tonight was all about staying on schedule.

Edward gave me one last hug. "Thank you, I'll never be able to repay you for everything you have done for me."

They started to pull him away and I held on tighter for one more second. His arms loosened from around me and I thought I might fall when they were pulled completely away. I started to sway and his arms were around me again instantly. He led me to a chair and let his hand rest again my cheek for a moment before he leaned down. He placed the softest of kisses against my forehead before he was taken away and walked out of my life forever.

_**The rest of Friday will be coming this weekend. This chapter was very hard to write so thank you for sticking with me through this.**_

_**Jaime**_


	7. Friday Evening

_**Sorry about the delay. Here we go.**_

_**Thanks to the usual people!**_

_**I do not own.**_

**Friday – Observation Room**

I'm not even sure how I found my way to the viewing room. I was vaguely aware of the fact that his family had saved me a seat. It felt odd but I didn't want to be alone so I was grateful. Even though they were virtual strangers they were a link to Edward and that was something that I needed at the moment. I felt Esme grab for my hand and didn't flinch as her fingers dug into mine. I didn't have to look around to know that the room was filling up with spectators to this gruesome event. I had never attended one before and knew that I would never willingly be present to anything like this again.

We were seated on benches a few feet back from the chamber. The chamber windows were covered by flimsy white curtains and I couldn't tell if anyone was inside yet. My eyes took in all the details of the room around me but all I could focus on was what was behind those curtains, was he inside yet, was he okay, was he ready for this?

Without warning the curtains were pulled open and my stomach dropped at the scene in front of me. Edward was already strapped down to the padded table in the center of the room, the IV's that would administer the drugs that would kill him already attached to his arms. The hand around mine clenched tighter and I'm sure that mine did the same. He kept his head to the side and I could see his eyes scanning behind the glass enclosure until he found us, they swept over his family until they found mine. His green eyes bored into me, gazing into my soul. I lifted my free hand up, trying to let him know to keep focused on me, nothing else mattered, he could make it through this if he focused only on me.

His eyes never left mine as the people worked around him. He seemed oblivious to the events that were unfolding in his vicinity. I continued to focus only on him, trying to pretend that no one else existed in this moment. A tear fell as they double checked the cuffs around his arms that held him to the table. I was vaguely aware of Esme's hand pulling away from mine as she covered her face, her sobs beyond control.

His eyes stayed locked on mine as all the activity continued around him. He looked like he was talking to himself but I couldn't quite make out what he was saying. Finally the activity in the room ceased and a hush settled over the room. I clenched my hands together, needing to keep them occupied so that I didn't try to break through the window that separated us and get him out of here. If I could have managed nothing would have stopped me.

One of the men asked Edward if he had any last words he wanted to say and he shook his head no. Someone went to double check the IV in preparation but Edward suddenly shook his head.

"Wait." His voice wasn't loud but it sounded like a clap of thunder in the quiet room. "I would like to say something."

Everyone waited for him. He swallowed, his adam's apple moving clearly under his neck as he struggled with the words he wanted to say.

"I need to say goodbye one last time to my family." Everyone turned to look at them and I felt for them. They weren't allowed to wallow in their grief alone. Instead they had to be scrutinized as if they were on display. I wished that there was some way in which I would have been able to shield them from this.

Edward continued to speak as his eyes moved from mine to take in every member of his family.

"They didn't deserve this, they didn't ask for this so please let them grieve in private after this ordeal is over. I love you all, please don't ever forget that and I'm sorry that I put you through this." I waited, wondering if he would say something to me. He closed his eyes for a long moment and then said, "I'm ready."

His eyes found mine again and he said one word over and over again. _Sorry._

I wished that I could hug him, reassure him that he had nothing to apologize for, that he didn't need his last thoughts to be about regret. I wanted him to leave this world happy. So while shaking my head to try to convey that he didn't need to be sorry I put what I hoped passed as a smile on my face.

_Thank you._

Over and over again I repeated it hoping he would get the idea that I was thankful for the few days we had together.

He closed his eyes and moved his head, nodding it and I hoped that it meant that he understood what I was trying to tell him.

The movement was frantic behind him as everyone did their parts. It was a well choreographed routine but I only had eyes for him. He didn't look at them as they moved about him, his eyes never left mine as they waited for the clock to strike 1:15, forced to wait for a phone call that would never come.

At exactly 1:15 the signal was given and somewhere in a hidden room the first plunger was depressed. His eyes became heavier and his blinks lasted a bit longer.

I leaned forward in my seat aching to comfort him, trying to let him know that I was there for him. He was no longer repeating _sorry_ over and over again but instead it looked like _Bella…Bella…Bella. _It moved quickly from there, no signal was given to signify when each new drug entered his system but his lips had stopped moving and a single tear fell from his eyes before they closed for the last time. I didn't blink as I waited, hoping that they might open again, that this was a mistake and he was only sleeping.

A doctor entered the room and listened to his heart, the EKG machine that he had been connected to gave a lone solitary beep as the green line no longer moved but remained flat. I could hear nothing and see nothing but him, everything else faded to the background around me. The doctor nodded his head and someone announced the time of death. Still I couldn't move as my eyes looked at him lying there on the table. He looked so peaceful. Someone moved the curtains back, blocking my view of him and still I didn't move from my seat, the memory of him lying there burned into my mind.

"It's time to go." It could have been a man or a woman who guided me out of the room. I saw Edward's family huddled together, comforting each other and I continued to walk. I could hear them calling my name but I focused on getting one foot in front of the other and kept moving. When I finally found my way out I was met by the cool night air. I took in a deep breath, trying to work through the tightness in my chest. I ignored the cameras and the questions that were thrown at me as I rushed to my car.

How I managed to get home was beyond me. It seemed like one second I was in my car and then I was in my bed, not bothering to take off my clothes just hugging my pillow to me for comfort. I cried all night, for the lives that were lost, for the pain that was caused, for the man I would never get to know. All I could think of was the ways his eyes looked at me as he whispered my name over and over again. As the sun came up I closed my eyes, there were no more tears left, no more hope left. I was here alone and I always would be.

_**I know some of you still had some hope but it would not have been the story I wanted to tell.**_

_**Thank you for reading and thank you for the wonderful response to this story.**_

_**There will be an epi, it will probably be done in about two weeks or so, that is the only part of the story that I have not written yet.**_

_**Thank you again.**_

_**Jaime**_


End file.
